The present invention relates to a glove donning and removal apparatus.
Disposable gloves have been utilized in the health care industry, food handling industry and elsewhere for many years. In many instances, disposable gloves are preferred over the current standard practice of washing hands for at least two minutes with an appropriate disinfectant which can ultimately compromise skin integrity and lead to skin infection and/or abrasion. In health care, the use of gloves by a heath care provider protects a patient from any contaminants that may reside on the health care provider. Of course, they also protect the heath care provider from possible contamination resulting from handling a patient.
While disposable gloves are preferred and utilized by most health care providers, special precautions must be taken to insure that the gloves are not contaminated by the user as they are being donned and that other stored gloves are not contaminated or touched by the user. Additionally, precautions must be taken during the glove removal process to ensure that the hands of a user do not contact the outer surface of the glove and become exposed to any contamination thereon and that removal of the glove does not splatter or aerosolize contaminated matter. Lastly, used disposable gloves must be disposed of safely.
It is desirable to provide a glove donning and removal apparatus that maintains the cleanliness of the gloves until they are utilized, assists a user in donning and removing a glove, prevents contamination of a glove during the donning process, prevents a user's hand from contacting the outer or working surface of a glove during the removal process, and immediately encases or seals a used glove for disposal after the glove has been removed.